The Sport of Kings
by traveler13
Summary: A new student has been admitted to Hogwarts in the seventh year of our heroes. But what is the story behind this reserved newcomer? And where do her loyalties lie?
1. A Kentucky Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Though the plot and the original characters are mine.

"Let's go Magic!" Ten year old Grace Parker leaned over her Welsh pony's neck, asking him for more speed. Magic's ears pricked up as he eagerly obliged his young rider's request. His tiny little hooves beat a tattoo into the recently de-thawed trail as he dug into the soft mud. Leaves left over from the fall kicked up in a whirlwind in the small pony's wake as he thundered down the track. Grace's long strawberry blonde hair whipped out behind her, a testament to her diminutive pony's impressive speed. Her silvery laugh was lost in the wind as she imagined herself on a coal black Thoroughbred, speeding towards the finish line, the other horses panting and snorting around her, the other jockey's whips flying in a frenzy as they all dashed madly down the homestretch to the wire…

Grace sighed as she pulled Magic back down to an easy canter. The barn was just coming into sight and she didn't want to be lectured again by her parents for being "an irresponsible horseman." She rolled her eyes as she remembered her father's words to her just the other day.

"Gracie one day you will be able to ride the racehorses when you are older. But until then I don't want to catch you galloping breakneck speed down the trails! You're just don't have the skills to handle a horse galloping flat out yet, even little Magic!" Grace smirked at this. Magic thought he was the size of War Admiral. Even in the pastures he picked on the sleek young Thoroughbreds that towered over him. She snickered as she remembered her plucky little pony bullying Midnight, her special favorite horse of that year's crop. He looked just like her mount she dreamed she would ride to victory. He was coal black, with not a white hair on his entire body. She knew he'd be a good one. Her mother's words came back to her, "A horse with a lot of chrome (white markings) on his body is almost guaranteed to be slow." And there was just this "look" in his eyes. Much like how she pictured Seabiscuit's expression to have been. She was broken out of her thoughts by Sam, the elderly foaling attendant, rushing toward her as fast as he could with his cane.

"Miss Gracie! There's been an accident! Your mother has been severely injured! Give me Magic; I'll take care of him. You need to go to your father. He's waiting out by the training track." Pale and drawn, Grace mutely nodded and took off as fast as her legs could carry her. It wasn't soon enough or maybe perhaps too soon, she reached the training track to find Midnight galloping around in a frenzy, reins flapping uncontrollably as he snorted repeatedly, the whites of his eyes clearly visible. She felt a brief pang for her beloved horse until she remembered that her mom was injured too. She spotted her father's brown derby about 100 yards down the track.

"Daddy!" She called out almost desperately. The middle aged man with salt and pepper hair turned around and swept his young daughter up in a hug, tear tracks visible on his handsome yet slightly aged face. He held onto his daughter tightly for a moment, and then reluctantly released her.

"Gracie, Mommy's been hurt and we have to go to the hospital." Grace could only nod as she and her father jumped in the older Ford truck to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Not a word passed between them on the fifteen minute journey, her father struggling to steer the truck through his tears. After what seemed like hours, Grace and her father arrived at the emergency room. They rushed in through the double doors to the reception desk. The woman sitting behind the desk shuffled papers in a brisk fashion before looking up to greet them.

"Please state the name of the patient you are here to see and your relation." The receptionist stated in a pleasant tone.

"Stephen and Grace Parker, husband and daughter of Christine Parker." The receptionist waved her arm in acceptance.

"She is in room 103. I wish you all the best." The relatively young woman returned to her paperwork.

Grace and her father walked quickly down the hall to her mother's room, where they were stopped by a nurse. She was a plump middle-aged woman with a pleasant face, but right then she had a very serious look in her clear blue eyes.

"Mr. Parker I assume? And Grace?" The woman afforded what she hoped was a comforting smile to the young girl holding tightly to her father's hand. Stephen Parker nodded his assent and the nurse seemed to steel herself for what she was about to say. She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Mr. Parker, the internal injuries your wife sustained by being dragged by the horse were numerous and very severe. The paramedics did everything they could but I fear she will not make it through the night…her vital signs are very weak and she is just barely conscious."

Stephen, looking much older, replied to the nurse. "Could we see her ma'am?" The nurse smiled sadly.

"Yes of course Mr. Parker, you and Grace can go right in." Stephen thanked the nurse for her information and Grace gave her a small teary-eyed smile as they entered Christine's hospital room. The curtains were drawn, causing an eerie glow to be cast in the room as the morning sun peeked in through the small opening between them. The shaft of light caused an unearthly ray to fall across the woman's face, revealing her to have been very beautiful, were it not for the many bruises marring her face and body. Her crystal eyes fluttered open weakly and she turned her head very carefully in the direction of Stephen and Grace, a small smile dancing across her face as she looked over to Grace, who looked so very much like her. Stephen crossed the room in a few steps and took the frail woman's small hand in his large work roughened ones. Fresh tears were making their way down his face and she reached up to brush them away. This effort cost her greatly though, and she groaned before laying back down.

"Don't move angel. I can see it hurts you." Stephen said very softly to his wife, Grace sitting on his lap looking up at the two imploringly. Christine held her arms out to Grace and she sat down on the bed, giving her mother a very careful hug. Tears were now falling down Christine's face.

"Gracie, Mommy doesn't have much time –"

"Honey don't talk that way." Stephen interrupted her heartbrokenly. But he was silenced by a gentle yet very firm glance from Christine. She took a deep breath, for her breath was getting shorter. Her lungs were beginning to fill up with fluid.

"Grace, I want you to promise Mommy that you'll be strong. That you will still continue to be the wonderful horsewoman you are today. Mommy loves you so much baby, and she wishes so much that she could watch you grow up the rest of the way. But that's not to be…" She trailed off into a coughing fit. Once it subsided her eyes glistened with unshed tears having nothing to do with the coughing. The nurse rushed in to try to stabilize the fading woman but there was nothing they could do. Christine Parker passed away in the arms of her loving husband and daughter….

Okay, so I know it has NOTHING to do with Harry Potter yet, but this is just setting the story. Our heroes will come into play in the next chapter. And Grace will fall into her niche in the Harry Potter world as well. Oh yes I have plans for our characters...let me know what you think!


	2. Revelations on the Train

Hermione Granger stood on Platform 9 ¾ waiting for her two friends, her school books clutched tightly to her chest belying her nervousness at the close proximity of a rather large group of rowdy Slytherin wizards. A shock of white blond hair betrayed the person standing in the middle of this group, naturally Draco Malfoy always had to be the center of attention. Hermione afforded herself a small sneer at the obnoxious pureblood. He returned in kind with a barely audible muttered "mudblood." She just sniffed disapprovingly at his continued juvenile behavior. Her expression changed drastically as she spotted a mop of red hair and a shaggy black mane. With a squeal of delight, she ran forward to greet her two best friends. Ron and Harry wrapped their friend up in a big hug, sunny smiles on both of their faces. Ron's expression darkened to that of a sneer when he noticed Draco Malfoy's presence. He turned towards Hermione.

"That git didn't bother you that much did he 'Mione?" Ron sent a dark look in Draco's direction.

"Other than the usual 'Mudblood' greeting, not so much. After all, he's not intelligent enough to come up with any witty remarks." She commented snidely. Drace Malfoy's head whipped sharply in her direction to send her a truly malicious look that didn't go unnoticed by either of the boys.

"I think you'd better be careful goading him this year 'Mione." Harry stated matter-of-factly. "After all, he did prove himself to be a Death Eater with that whole fiasco last year." Harry's eyes grew wistful as he remembered their great headmaster in his final moments. He had managed to convince Draco that he was not a killer, and in fact, it hadn't been Draco who sent the final Avada Kedavra at Dumbledore. Still, his obvious malicious attitude troubled Harry. Hermione jerked him out of his morose thoughts.

"Who is that girl?" A pretty strawberry blonde girl who looked to be about their age stood by herself about twenty feet away from the golden trio. As soon as she drew their attention, the boys gaped openly at the new attractive female. Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you're so enchanted by her Harry, go introduce yourself." She gave Harry an amused look as he had the decency to look sheepish. He gathered up his confidence but as he was about to walk over, Draco Malfoy stepped right in front and offered his arm to the petite girl. She blushed considerably before giving him a shy smile and taking his proffered arm. Harry grimaced.

"Damn, Malfoy has her marked as his conquest. Poor thing." He said darkly as Hermione put a consoling arm around him. Then she put her other arm around Ron and the three of them walked onto the train together.

In the Slytherin compartment….

Draco Malfoy lead Grace Parker into the compartment that he and his friends had taken. She sat down next to him as he introduced her to Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott. Grace felt a little uncomfortable in a compartment with all males, especially ones who were eyeing her up as if she was a particularly finely bred filly at the Keeneland auction. She swallowed nervously and afforded the leering boys a small smile. Draco leaned back and gracefully but discretely swept his arm behind Grace's head in one smooth movement. She gave him a strange look and he returned it with a rare smile.

"Where are my manners?" He stated suavely. "Here I am dragging you into a compartment with all of these animals," The other Slytherin boys sneered at Draco " When I haven't even asked you your name." Grace couldn't help but giggle softly. He was intimidating at first, but she had to admit he was certainly charming.

"Grace Parker." She said in her Kentucky accent. Draco raised one eyebrow in interest and smirked at her obvious foreign accent.

"So Grace, tell me a little bit about yourself." He smiled at her again. He was laying on the charm thick. How often is it that he could have an American girl? He smirked inwardly at the thought. Oh well, she didn't know anything about how Hogwarts worked. And this fact Draco Malfoy was going to use to its full advantage. Grace smiled nervously at the blonde.

"Well, I grew up on a Muggle horse racing farm in the heart of Kentucky called Magic River Stables. I started riding at a very young age at the insistence of my mother." Her eyes grew misty. Draco's wooing instinct kicked in as the tears didn't go unnoticed. Her put a well-practiced look of concern on his face as he asked Grace.

"Did something happen to your mother?" He asked gently. Inside he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Man was she falling for it.

"She died." Grace stated very softly. "When I was ten." Draco wasn't expecting that. Narcissa had recently fallen prey to Voldemort, causing him to question everything his father stood for. He could empathize with Grace.

"How did she die?" Draco's demeanor changed from conquering to concerned. Grace didn't notice the subtle change but the other boys in the compartment did. Boy would he hear about that one in the boys Slytherin dorms. Damn he was going soft.

"She was involved in an accident on the track. She was training one of our racehorses one day when our tractor backfired as Sam was working on it. Midnight spooked and my mom lost her balance and fell. Her foot got caught in the stirrup and Midnight dragged her to death." Grace's voice broke imperceptibly but she held strong. Damn, Draco thought. With that kind of mental strength and bravery, she's sure to be in Gryffindor.

"Did you ride the racehorses too?" He asked. Anyone who was nuts enough to get on the back of a thousand pound animal that could kill you in one blow and run it as fast as it could go HAD to be stupidly brave.

"When I got older yeah. My dad finally let me start riding the quieter ones when I was fourteen."

"When did you learn you were magical?"

"When I was eleven. An older gentleman came to see me one day when I was riding my pony Magic. I remember him appearing quite suddenly. He spooked the shit out of Magic." She laughed. "My noble steed. He was a tiny little white Welsh pony and he was the biggest brat I've ever ridden. He's still tough to ride sometimes. But anyway, the gentleman introduced himself by the name, I think it was something like Dumberfore-"

"Dumbledore." Draco supplied.

"That was it. Dumbledore. And then he told me that I was a witch. Of course I scoffed at him. Who the hell believes in magic? I grew up in the race world. You have to be practical and realistic. But then he explained to me the voices in my head. Because I was magical, the horses were able to talk to me telepathically. Plus there were other funny little things. Like if Magic threw me like he does a lot, I would hover a bit then land slowly on my feet. I just thought I was losing it. But then I accidentally set the hay on fire when I was pissed at my dad for being overprotective. He wouldn't let me gallop Magic. And you know little things, like levitating brushes and breaking lightbulbs. So then Dumbledore had me homeschooled so I could continue in the racing world. My dad pulled me out of public school and I began my magical learning every day after I got home from the track. And I'm in my last year."

Draco nodded. "We are too. So you are a mud-muggle born?" He stopped himself from saying "mudblood". He long since stopped calling muggleborns this word. The only reason he still said it to Granger, he thought with a grin, was because it got such an entertaining reaction.

Grace shook her head no. "Dumbledore told me that I am a pureblood. That I am adopted. Of course I didn't believe him and cursed him off," Draco laughed inwardly at the thought of a ten year-old cursing off Dumbledore. She was a firecracker. "But then I realized he was right. My name isn't really Grace Parker." She said softly. Draco raised his eyebrows. "It's Persephone Parkinson."

I know evil cliffie, I have the basic outline of Grace's (or should I say Persephone's) character and story but not the details. Looks like Draco is trying to charm my little equestrian. But I have no idea what I should do pertaining to couples. I'm just leaving it completely open right now even though it's really suggestive of Draco/Grace. But I do love the Dramione ship so much...if anyone has any ideas feel more than welcome to give me any!

Oh and Magic is based off of the little Arab/Mustang I used to have. My pen name is after him. Yup, good ol' Traveler! He was a brat if you were going any slower than flat out LOL!


	3. Grace Meets the Golden Trio

Draco started at the name as if he'd just been slapped. His mouth hung open in a rather undignified manner, completely un-Malfoy like. His quicksilver orbs searched her sea green depths for any hint that she might be joking. When she gazed back as seriously as him, Draco felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Persephone was alive. He couldn't believe it. But how unlike her sister she was.

Pansy had jet-black straight locks that cascaded down nearly to her rear and cold calculating ice blue eyes that looked as if they should belong to a feline. Her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent and she looked as if a puff of wind would blow over her frail figure. Her sister on the other hand had wavy strawberry blonde hair that reached mid back. Her eyes were almost almond shaped with a kind, doe-like quality to them. Her body was well muscled from years of riding horses and her skin was still kissed with the sun from long hours working on the track in the summer. They were as different as night and day, dark and light, moon and sun. Both sisters were breathtakingly beautiful but in such different ways it was impossible to tell that they were related.

Draco suddenly drew back from Persephone as if he'd been burned. If his parents found out that Pansy's sister was indeed, still alive, he might be saddled with her instead of Pansy. Both girls were likable enough, and of course had more than enough beauty to bring honor to both the Malfoy and Parkinson names, but Jesus Christ he was only seventeen! The boy couldn't keep his eyes from wandering even if he tried. There were just too damn many good-looking females in this school. And he had the pick of the litter, he thought to himself with a self-satisfied wolfish grin. The mere thought of marriage had the poor boy running away faster than Secretariat pulling away from his competitors in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Grace turned to stare at Draco quizzically. He looked back at her with a sheepish expression and a quick excuse that they were almost to the school and he needed to change into his robes. Grace just continued to stare. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Okay Seph, I know we just met and all but this is your only warning. I have no shame and I have no problem getting naked in front of you if you don't vacate the compartment."

Grace narrowed her eyes at Draco when she heard his new nickname for her. "Please just call me Grace. That name makes me sound like some upstart upper class snobbery."

"Dear, you ARE upper class snobbery." Draco said with a snicker. "You're from an extremely wealthy and extremely ancient pureblood family. Last warning. The shirt is coming off." And without any further warning he swept off his gunmetal grey turtleneck with a flourish. Grace turned about 5 shades of red before dashing unceremoniously out into the hall, Draco's pleasantly amused chuckle following after her. Unfortunately she did not think to check for anyone coming and a few paces later, she ran smack into the Boy Who Lived himself.

Harry was walking along the train hallway, peeking in compartments, looking for Luna and Neville. His brow furrowed. Normally they sought him out knowing that Ron and Hermione were prefects and that he had no company during their time patrolling the train corridor. Suddenly, the same strawberry blonde he noticed before boarding the train flew out of a compartment about 4 down from him. He heard Malfoy's amused snicker and rolled his eyes. Malfoy was sure starting early on the poor girls. I mean damn, they hadn't even gotten to the school yet! His thoughts were cut off when the girl suddenly barreled headlong into him, knocking his glasses askew and sending him to meet the train carpet in a rather unceremonious way. The poor girl turned beet red and started stuttering.

"I'm so sorry! Oh geez let me help you up. Oh God I am such a freaking klutz!" Grace held out her hand to him. Harry contemplated her for a minute. She seemed nice enough. And he doubted that she was in Slytherin since she was so inclined to apologize. He gave her a small smile and grasped her small but surprisingly strong hand. She pulled him up rather quickly and without much effort. He straightened his glasses and smoothed his robes before holding his hand out again.

"My name is Harry, Harry Potter. What might yours be?" Grace hesitated. Should she say her real name or go with her muggle one. She decided to be on the safe side and stick with her muggle one. She knew there were some really big rivalries at this school.

"Grace Parker." She smiled at him shyly. My God but he was cute. Shaggy black hair

fell down into bespectacled emerald eyes and she looked over him in approval. What

these wizard boys do to keep in the shape they're in she didn't know. Maybe it's some sort of a spell. Man did she ever want to learn THAT particular spell! She thought about Draco Malfoy. Oh he had _definitely_ been good looking, there was no doubt about that. But Harry for some reason had caught her attention more so than the cocky platinum blonde. She found arrogant guys to be tiresome to be around after a while. Harry had a more innocent charm about him, he struck her as the type of guy who would stand there nervously at the front door, flowers in hand, just waiting for the right moment to knock. Her cheeks flushed when she realized his beautiful green eyes were staring right back at her. He just smiled when he caught her blushing.

"Which house are you from? I've never seen you around Hogwarts. You must be from either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Your accent is strange though. I can't quite place it."

Grace was confused. What did he mean by houses? "I never went here for school. As I was telling Draco," she noticed Harry stiffen and his smile become a frown, "I'm from America and I was brought over here to finish my education. I'm just glad I was allowed to bring Magic. I would have been lost without my pony." Harry visibly brightened.

"Well that means you still have to be sorted." He laughed when he saw her confused face mixed with a dash of fear. "Don't worry, you're too nice to end up as a Slytherin in the snake pit. I'm pretty sure you'll end up in one of the other three houses. So Grace, what did you do in America?"

"Well my father owned a racing farm in Kentucky. I used to help train and exercise and I was getting my magical education through home schooling but that was before-" Grace cut herself off. She didn't even tell Draco what happened to her father. Harry was getting to her fast. Harry's eyes widened at the mention of racehorses.

"Bloody hell! I don't know much about horses or horse racing but I know you must have to be pretty damn brave to ride those brutes going as fast as you do." He grinned. "Well that settles it. You'll be a Gryffindor just like me, Ron and Hermione. Come on! We still have about an hour till the train gets to Hogwarts!" He smiled at her gently and took her by the hand and led her down the corridor to another compartment. He opened the door and a few people were sitting in the compartment. One guy she noticed had bright flaming red hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Damn but these English boys were gorgeous. Another occupant had the same flaming red hair as the guy and if Grace had to take a guess she would say they were brother and sister. Across from the red haired girl a curly haired brunette sat next to the red haired boy with her nose buried in a very intimidating looking volume. She was lost in thought and didn't seem to notice the newcomer. Next to her sat a willowy girl with long platinum blonde hair. She wore a rather dreamy expression and was staring out the train window as if looking for something. Across from her sat another young man with dark brown hair. He seemed rather nervous and shy, and timidly gave her a small smile as she entered the compartment behind Harry. Ron cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. Harry just smirked.

"Everyone this is Grace. She's from America and she's new this year. And I can pretty much count on her being in Gryffindor because anyone brave enough to ride racehorses definitely counts in the Gryffindor house." Harry gave her a bright smile, which she returned. He was _very_ charming. The brunette looked up from her enormous book.

"Hello Grace, my name is Hermione." She greeted warmly. " And don't listen to Harry's prattle." Harry looked offended. "It doesn't matter what house you're in-"

"Yes it does! She'd better not be a bloody Slytherin-!"

"Ronald, knock it off. You haven't even introduced yourself and already you're bellowing at the poor girl like an angry centaur." Ron looked decently chastised. Grace hid a giggle behind her hand. Then suddenly something troubled her.

"The blonde boy I was sitting with earlier, Drake something or other-"

"_Malfoy_." Ron spat. Hermione gave him a severe look.

Now Grace was thoroughly confused. "I think he said he was in that house, the one with the snake emblem. What's so bad about that house?"

Ron had the air like he was going to go into another rant but Hermione cut him off with a quick hand to his mouth. He glared at her as she spoke.

"There's nothing wrong with the house _itself_ –" Ron started to mumble through her hand and she used the other one to cuff him on the back of the head. He glared at her but said nothing more. Satisfied, Hermione continued. "As I was saying, it's not the house itself, but the nature of the people and the ideology that most of them grew up with. Grace, I'm sure you're familiar with the fact that some magical people are pureblood some are halfblooded and some are Muggleborn." Grace nodded her assent. Her tutor touched on it briefly. As a matter of fact she remembered something about him mentioning the fight overseas in England. Something to do with an evil halfblood wizard. And something about…

"Harry Potter! I _knew_ I heard that name somewhere!" She saw Harry cringe. And suddenly she realized how much he hated being recognized everywhere he went. She had found herself a kindred spirit. "Sorry Harry. Yeah your fight with Moldyshorts or something like that-" Ron burst out laughing despite Hermione's squawk of frustration at being interrupted so much (A/N poor Hermione she must really hate me right now!)

"Mol-Moldyshorts, man Harry you oughta use THAT one during the final battle!" Tears were streaming down his face as he collapsed into peals of laughter. Harry just smiled.

"His name is actually Voldemort, Grace." A hush went over the compartment. Ron's hysterical fit of laughter stopped suddenly as if Hermione cursed him with Silencio. (A/N she didn't! ) Grace looked from one person to the next. Every single one of them had a very serious look on their faces as their archenemy was called by his name.

"Harry, don't encourage her to throw out his name so carelessly. I know you have every right to but she could find herself in a serious situation if she used his name in front of the wrong people." Harry nodded his agreement to Hermione's statement.

"You see Grace, Voldemort, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as you should call him unless you're with any of us, is the most evil wizard in a century. He kills witches and wizards just simply because their blood isn't considered _pure_." He spat the word like venom. "The blonde kid you met on the train. Be wary of him. He follows exactly those ideals. His father is a huge supporter of the evil bastard, and I wouldn't advise you to get too close to him. He's as slippery as a snake and can be trusted about as far as his house's mascot. I don't know you well enough to tell you not to talk to him at all, but just heed my advice. Be very careful whom you proclaim open alliance to. For as many allies as you make, you'll have just as many enemies." Harry's green eyes bored through hers, as if to challenge her as to what side she stood for. Suddenly something troubled her. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off from what she was about to say by the train grinding to a halt.

"Oh look at that we're here." The quiet blonde girl jumped up from her seat. She walked over to Grace and studied her for a minute. "Darling, I think you may be infected by a Wrackspurt." She tilted Grace's head to the side to look. Grace was thoroughly dumbfounded. What the hell was a Wrackspurt?!

"Okay Luna, that'll do." Hermione's commanding voice rang out behind her. Luna looked at her with a quirky smile and flounced out of the compartment, skipping and humming down the corridor. Grace turned to Hermione but all Hermione did was shake her head and smile. "She's a bit…extraordinary Luna. I assure you she's harmless. Come on, we'll show you to the carriages." Grace followed after Hermione and the boys out of the train. The two boys were just in front of them, involved in a heated discussion of the last Quidditch World Cup and soon they were approaching the school's carriages. Grace yelped and hid behind Hermione.

"Wh-wh-what are those _things_?" Grace shook from head to toe. The creatures pulling the carriages were fearsome looking indeed. They looked like, well, dragonish horses with huge batlike wings. Breath misted out of their skeletal heads. Their leathery wings curled high above their withers and their sleek midnight coats shone in the moonlight, giving them an eerie, unearthly glow. One turned to look at Grace and ducked its head to get a better look. Grace jumped back in fright.

Harry watched Grace's movements and could only deduce that she could see the Thestrals like he could. He watched as Tenebrus lowered his head to the frightened girl. "It's okay Grace. They're actually really gentle, they just have a bad rap. That's Tenebrus. Normally he's not super friendly towards anyone but Hagrid but he seems to like you."

Grace looked at the strange horse like creature in front of her. She looked into it's blank white eyes and shivered. She was used to the liquid chocolate depths of her beloved racehorses and Magic's quirky one blue eye. These white eyes were giving her the creeps. Still, she tried to look past the obvious difference to the horse that lived inside these monsters. Tenebrus gave her a quizzical look and ducked his head to shove it hard into her chest. Grace couldn't help but laugh. Magic did the same exact thing when he wanted attention. So she reached up and scratched the animal behind his poll. Tenebrus let out an equine huff of delight. Grace found herself softening up to the animal, after all, he was quite horse like in his manner. She was pulled from the front of Tenebrus by a gentle hand.

"Unless you want Tenebrus to run you over, you'd better get in the carriage." Harry said with a laugh. He lead her to the side of the carriage and helped her up onto the landing to jump inside the cab. Ron and Hermione were already sitting inside.

"Bloody hell, those Thestrals give me the creeps and I can't even see them." Ron said with a shudder.

Grace was confused. "Why can't you see them? They're standing right there."

Hermione took a deep breath as Grace looked at her imploringly. "Thestrals can only be seen by someone who has seen death." She finished her sentence in almost a whisper. "You can see them Grace. Who did you watch die?"

Grace was very quiet. Then she took a deep breath and spoke with a slight quiver in her voice. "My parents. My mother died when I was ten from a training accident and then my father, well I suspect my father was murdered. I don't know exactly how he died. I think someone injected him with a drug that was meant for one of our horses to disqualify him. That kind of foul play is common in racing. My father just got in the thug's way."

Harry sat next to her in a very pensive state. She lost her parents too. It seemed he might have found a kindred spirit in Grace. The rest of the carriage ride passed in somber silence as the morbidity of the previous conversation permeated the cab like a poisonous miasma. It seemed like an eternity before the carriage came to a stop. Grace chanced a quick glance at Harry. She wondered if she had said something to offend the boy, as he had been very quiet ever since she mentioned the death of her parents. Maybe she was too forthcoming? Her thoughts were interrupted by Hermione announcing that they had reached the castle gates as the carriages gracefully came to a stop. The four students jumped out of the carriage and before she ran ahead with the others, Grace walked over to Tenebrus and patted his sleek shoulder. Tenebrus arched his neck and leaned down to whuff in her ear.

Harry turned back to watch the interaction between human and creature. Grace sure had a way with animals. Tenebrus was completely in love with her. His eyes were closed in equine bliss as Grace scratched him behind the ears (a/n do Thestrals have ears??) and he could hear Grace speaking quietly to the animal. He smiled softly as he walked over to drag her away from her newest equine friend. He tapped her on the shoulder and Grace must have been startled for she spun around quickly and almost knocked him over. He didn't realize how close he was standing either for when she spun around she also tripped over his shoe and fell forwards into a very startled Harry's arms. His seeker reflexes allowed him to catch her before she fell. Grace turned to look up at his face and they both blushed deep when they made eye contact. Harry hastily let her stand up then backed off quickly. Grace stood there not knowing quite what to do. Harry scratched the back of his neck nervously before speaking. "So err, I guess we should head into the feast?" Grace giggled nervously before nodding her head and walking with Harry up to the castle to try and catch Ron and Hermione. Before they were out of earshot, Harry could have sworn he heard Tenebrus chuckle.

Okay so I'm not really sure if Thestrals are as equine as I made Tenebrus to be but hell it's my story so I say they're like horses when it comes to being scratched behind the ears! And so things continue to develop. Harry is so cute when he's got a crush heehee. Oh did I say that out loud, of course I could mean that he's...attracted to her! Ah bullocks I gave some of it away. Oh well. Next comes the sorting! What house should I put Grace in hmmm...well she's based on my own personality (at least when I was her age) so I'll really have to think it through. Suggestions are welcome, though I'm pretty sure I know which house. It's going to be either Gryffindor or Slytherin (obviously otherwise the story wouldn't be as fun! ah rivalry) so she's pretty much in a catch 22 at this stage. She's gonna make some enemies, and that's what keep the story fun! And of course I love non canon ships so don't be surprised to find some really funny pairings in here.

Oh yes and one more author's note. I know I just trucking along on this fic, but now I may be moving to South Dakota (for a horse racing job YAY!) and if I do my access to a computer will be limited until my broke ass can afford a laptop! So updates on this fic may be scarce for a while and for that I do apologize. I hope that you guys can still stick with me! Shout out to Beyond Rubies for giving me my first review! Thank you so much, I appreciated it so much that I went with your idea and had her go to Harry. I was originally leaning towards Draco (hee) but my Draco would break poor Grace's heart anyway, he's such a player! Thanks guys, keep the reviews coming!


End file.
